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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Augusta National idiom is considerable, and some media folks drink freely from the club's Kool-Aid container before speaking.
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| Says four-time champ Tiger Woods: 'There's really no roars out there anymore.' (Getty Images) |
Thanks to the shovels of dirt that have been moved and massive tweakings that have been made to the course, the Masters has suddenly become the second most brutal major on the planet.
Look out, U.S. Open. The Augusta green jackets are gaining on the USGA blue blazers.
After a cold snap last season pushed the winning score to over par for the second time in tournament history, the breezes on Sunday's final round turned it into another blowout victory for the increasingly difficult course.
Yes, the winds put the gust in Augusta, but let's be frank here and not mince words or use haughty synonyms. This makes two consecutive years in which the winner was identified not because he mounted a heroic run down the stretch, but because he made the fewest mistakes and lost the least plasma.
Put another way, eventual winner Trevor Immelman started the day with a two-shot lead, matched the highest final round in Masters history with a closing 75, and actually expanded his margin, winning by three over Tiger Woods.
Stop the badness.
It's irrelevant what the television ratings will say, because history has proven people will watch the Masters no matter the conditions or leaderboard. But has there ever been a more dreadful two-year period in modern history with regard to excitement and goosebumps?
Short answer: No.
What was the year's defining moment, the wedge shot Immelman hit on the 15th in the third round that failed to roll backward into the water? Everybody was hoping for fireworks Sunday and got a grand total of four players who broke par, which is what we expect at torture chambers like Shinnecock Hills or Oakmont, not the former flower farm known as Augusta National.
Forever reviewing data on how players have toured the club's famously rolling hills, it's time to dial it back a few years, remove some more trees and move up some tees. Because, the course was soft and seemingly susceptible to low scoring for three days, and the lowest number posted was a 5-under 67.
Ah, for the days when guys like Nick Price shot 63 at Augusta and made it exciting. Seems like only ... decades ago. If those numbers are the best the game's best players can produce under seemingly optimal conditions, and all it takes is gusting wind to make the course borderline unplayable, then the new and improved Augusta is just too damned hard.
